Paul de Lagarde (1827-1891) - scholar and anti-Semite

Lagarde (1827-1891) at the beginning of the 1860s, based on a photograph from the Göttingen University Library. Photo: from 'Paul de Lagarde..', (2nd edition) by Ludwig Schemann, Leipzig 1920 Research team from Göttingen and Potsdam examines the intellectual legacy of the Göttingen Orientalist Who was Paul de Lagarde? A research team from the Department of Egyptology and Coptic Studies at the University of Göttingen, in collaboration with the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European Jewish Studies in Potsdam (MMZ), has been working on a historical re-assessment of the life and work of the Göttingen Orientalist (1827-1891). In their work, the researchers have focussed on the political and ideological aspects of the scholar's oeuvre, and in particular on Lagarde's anti-Semitism. Their conclusions have now been published in the series -European Jewish Studies- by De Gruyter. For this volume, the participants of a workshop that took place in Göttingen in January 2018 have examined the archival materials and publications that make up Lagarde's legacy, and, on the one hand, have discussed their contribution to the historiography of ancient Oriental Studies in Germany and the study of Lagarde's influence on Old Testament (Septuagint) research. On the other, these materials have been placed in their contemporary historical context against the background of popular ideology, and offered insights into academic networks in the 19th century. The co-organiser of the workshop, Professor Heike Behlmer, from the University of Göttingen's Department of Egyptology and Coptic Studies, emphasises in her contribution: "Lagarde's work on the Egyptian-Coptic language and the Coptic Bible are representative of the stages of his career.